On
the 'Nevermind' DVD, journalist Craig Montgomery says the album took "the
piss out of rock 'n roll and rocked way harder than anyone else," and boy
was he right.

The
1991 release of Nirvana's Nevermind single-handedly changed the face of music,
killing the market for most rock bands of the late 80s and creating a new genre
of music: grunge. Now, almost 15 years later comes the DVD release 'Nevermind:
Classic Album' - could it really be that long ago?

Musically
the CD stands the test of time - as resonant now as it was in the early 90s. The
DVD is often brilliant, featuring interviews with a number of the behind-the-scenes
players who helped create the first seminal album of the 1990s. The two surviving
members of Nirvana (Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, now of the Foo Fighters) are
prominently featured. Also in the spotlight is Nevermind producer Butch Vig, who
gives an incredible amount of insight into not only Cobain's thought process but
the recording process and the role of the producer. This DVD could almost be a
required viewing for anyone who wants to be a record producer, as Vig takes you
through step-by-step and track-by-track into the mindset of the often unheralded
contributions a record producer makes in the recording process.

Interviews
with Sub Pop staff members (co-Founder Jonathan Poneman, publicist Nils Bernstein,
and photographer Charles Peterson) who put out Nirvana's lesser known debut Bleach,
staffers from Nevermind record label DGC (A&R executive Gary Gersh, publicist
Susie Tennant, radio promotions person John Rosenfelder), Sonic Youth's Thurston
Moore, along with a number of journalists, create a full picture of what goes
to making a hit record.

Nirvana's
blend of punk/hardcore attitudes with Beatles-inspired harmonies made the band's
sound unique. But what made Nevermind the classic album it became was Cobain's
lyrics--his ability to capture the disconnect felt by an entire generation. Complete
with high energy live shows that often ended with Novoselic and Cobain destroying
their instruments on stage, not in the same theatrical way of bands before them,
but with no regard for their own physical well being, Nirvana bulldozed their
way over the music scene, paving the way for other Seattle bands like Pearl Jam,
Alice in Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots.

The
understatement of the DVD comes from Dave Grohl who says, "We [the band]
knew there was no way we could be the biggest band in the world. We just wanted
to play." Grohl who joined the band after Bleach was released was the missing
ingredient that made the band gel, but it was Vig's production that helped create
the sound. The CD, which DGC initially thought would sell 50,000 copies, and potentially
as many as 500,000, knocked Michael Jackson out of the Billboard #1 slot in January
1992 and created a new youth movement.

Watching
the DVD was an eye-opening experience on many levels, but it is not without its
faults. It barely addresses the darker side of Cobain, the drug use, antics, and
eventual suicide. What it does do is give an incredible look behind the scenes
of the creative process of one of the most important recordings of the 1990s.

Featured
as "bonus tracks" are segments about the making of the "Smells
Like Teen Spirit" video, Dave Grohl joining the band, the recording of "Drain
You", recording the album in L.A., a live version of "Polly" (based
on a true story of a woman who escapes her rapist by treating him kindly, thereby
catching him off-guard, told from the perspective of the attacker), and a feature
about the album artwork, including an interview with the now teenaged boy featured
on the album cover.

Highly
recommended for fans of the band, and especially for people who want to become
record producers or to get a glimpse of the recording process.